more race pictures

So pictures from last weekend's race are up online. They're pretty funny, so I thought I'd share.

I don't even remember seeing anyone with a camera here...

Crossing the finish line... we're on the far right. The time on the clock is the time since the race began, not our finish time. 

Immediately after crossing the line. We look terrible. I honestly thought I would throw up, and I guess the picture is just proof. It was SO hot!

Bloomsday Number Three

The first weekend in May is Bloomsday. It's one of the largest races in the world (about 50,000 people) and people from all over the globe come to Spokane for this 12k. This was my third time participating (last year's recap here), and the only time I decided to actually try and run. I've been training for a little while with Isabel, but not too long... and my time confirms that. 

I was awoken at a little before 7 in the morning by music from across the street. The same five upbeat songs were playing at a law firm across the way... we live on the Bloomsday course and they were just getting ready early. 

 So I got dressed in my running attire and joined friends in the hallway who were running also. Heidi, Stephanie, Isabel and I all ran Bloomsday... Carson decided to pick up a shift at work instead of running because he still can't run very far (since he fractured his foot last summer), so he took this picture. Heidi was an earlier start time, so she had left for the race already. 

Stephanie was running Bloomsday with her sister-in-law in a later color group, so Isabel and I walked downtown and joined the blue group. The sea of people in this picture is all our color group, and there were so many more of them. Where we were standing for this picture, we were in the way of the bathroom line, so we moved along and got closer to the front. 

We crossed the start line and couldn't run because there were so many people, but we started off soon enough. I can't run very far and this race made me realize that I should have trained for SO much longer than I did, but I was able to run a little bit. Isabel was so sweet and very encouraging; she can run way faster and longer than I, but she stayed with me and was great at pacing. 

Our time wasn't that great (because of me)... 1 hr 40 min. I'm a little disappointed, but in all fairness, I never did that well on inclines anyway, and the Bloomsday course is rather hilly, so I guess I didn't stand a chance.

Looking back at the finish line:  

Post-race sweat

The finish line from the t-shirt line

The line to get t-shirts by the mall... I think we waited for a good 25 minutes.

Back at the Reilly... our shirts! We think they're a little on the ugly side, but whatever. 

Bloomsday people from my living room, after I was finished: 

I iced my muscles for the first time ever after running, which makes me feel like I'm something of an athlete, which I'm not (or I would hopefully have run in less time than I did). I had no idea that icing actually worked, but now I'm a fan.
If you're wondering, the answer is YES... I have ventured out to run twice since Sunday. It was more of a walk because I'm terrible, but muscles are building and endurance is growing... small steps! I'm hoping to really get back into running this summer.

Bloomsday!

I've already mentioned that we did Bloomsday. 

Carson and I didn't run together... I ran with a friend from work! 

7.46 miles of pure joy. And pain. And sweat. And sunburn. But we didn't feel like we were going to die or give up at any point so I guess that's a plus. I think it helped that we were running with 50,000 of our closest friends... people watching and commenting on the outrageous costumes people wore made it fun.

We didn't train, weren't in shape, and pretty much did it together for moral support. Our time was horrible, but we both have bad knees (and probably worse endurance) and the 20 minute long line for the bathroom didn't help either. All this to say... at least we did it! 

Pictures: 

1. A nice random person took one of us before we started. And by the way, about ten minutes before our color group even began, someone had won the race. We're talking 30 minutes!

2. People throw their jackets and sweatshirts into the trees, later to be collected for charity. Can't imagine how much work that took, getting them down! 

3. All sorts of characters, bands, people selling cold treats, people passing out water, and singers greeted us on the way. Jessica asked me to take her picture with this guy. 

4. Definitely not mine, brightroom photography took pictures as we crossed the finish. This way, I got to see Carson finish! All three of us look really worried about crossing that line.  

5. The joy on our faces with the finish line behind us. And the next picture is the finish line itself. 

So fun, and hoping to run the whole thing next year! Who knows, maybe next time we'll win!

may 3

One:

Today is

Erin's Birthday!

She's our sister-in-law. Carson's only sister. My only older sister. Two kids in two years (basically a superhero). She lives so far away that I don't know her well but hope to remedy that in the future! 

Happy Birthday, Erin!

 (yes, all pictures in existence of us with Erin are from the wedding...)

Two:

This Day In (our) History

Yesterday was the two-year mark for our first date. But today is the day that Carson re-asked me to coffee and I accepted. Today probably marks the day that I started liking him, but I wouldn't be honest with myself and I didn't journal it, so I'm not positive. 

He called me after Bloomsday to see if I would go to coffee now that we knew each other better. I accepted. He would pick me up in 45 minutes and since I'd done the race that morning I'd just been lazy and hadn't showered. I had also waited on laundry. I wore a purple striped shirt I've never loved, and my hair was a wet mess. 

We talked and what he'd claimed would take less than an hour took three. I remember wondering if he would "let me off gently" (I hadn't been so nice to him leading up to this if you recall). Instead, I remember him asking me my thoughts on long-distance relationships (I was planning to transfer to Chicago in the fall). He also said something lame about his having small hands and wanted to see whose were bigger. He does admit that he just wanted to touch my hand. Ridiculous and I did comply, but thought he was way corny. 

Oh well, he still won me over :)

Three:

Bloomsday

We ran Bloomsday once again this year... it was actually two days ago.

When I say run, remember that I haven't trained in the slightest. 

Carson ran the whole way, but I was only able to run for the first 4.5 miles (we ran/walked that part)... the last part was a testament to training for a run... knees gave out and calves began to tighten... oxygen intake wasn't going so well either. We ran across the finish line though.

 Made horrible time, but we did stop for the bathroom, which added 15-20 minutes to our overall time.

It was fun. Beautiful day. And I have a sunburn to prove that it was the sunniest, hottest day of the year so far. 

Pictures to come. 

They should be posted online today, but I scheduled this post so I don't have them yet!